The Lunatic Fringe

Yoan Moncada isn’t going to sign with the Giants.  Probably.  Almost certainly.

But…what if?

When it comes to pure natural talent, Moncada is an amazing talent.  These are the scores one scout gave him on the 20-80 scouting scale.

Hit — 60
Power — 60
Speed — 70
Arm — 60
Field — 50

In case you didn’t know, higher is better.  This is an amazing set of skills.  Now, he’s young, just 19, and has a lot still to prove, but he could be the best player to come out of Cuba yet, and that’s a group that has a lot of amazing players in the major leagues right now.

Moncada can play either second base or third, and the need for the Giants at third is pretty clear.  In fact, there are a lot of position needs among the minors.  The Giants are notably short on high-potential position players in the minors.  And the team could use some help on that level.

Moncada wouldn’t be a major leaguer right away.  He’d be two or three years away at best.  He won’t make 2015 a World Series year.

But as the Giants begin rounding up towards the 2020 period, having a superstar coming up would sure help the team keeps it’s momentum that begun in 2010.

Signing Moncada would be costly, indeed.

He’ll get a record contract, the likes of which will cost a major penalty.  Essentially, they’d have to pay the size of the contract in a penalty to MLB.  So a $40 million contract to Moncada (which is probably less than he’d get) would result in close to $39 million going to MLB on top of it.  Also, the team that signs him won’t get to sign an international free agent for more than a $300,000 bonus for two years.

Moncada would be worth it.

The Giants have a lot of free budget (though not necessarily $80M worth) that didn’t go to Jon Lester or Pablo Sandoval.  They have a still-young core that Moncada would get to grow into and lead.  They have a position of need.

It won’t happen.  I’m not one to tell a team to blow a lot of money on a single player…but this is one player I would.